Aldaris Porteris

Brewed by Aldaris (Baltic Beverages Holding - Carlsberg)
Style: Baltic Porter
Riga, Latvia

1/2 liter bottle. This beer pours to a beautiful, bright, deep, deep, ruby red color, with a thick, creamy, tan head, and a moderate carbonation. The nose on this beer is wonderful, with rich, sweet, aromas of carmel malt, toast, nuts, and cocca. The palate is slightly slick on the tongue, with really delicious flavors of sweet malt, caramel, light toast, nutty malt. mild coffee, and cocca flavor. The body is very round and polished. This beer finishes with more excellent sweet malty and toasty flavors up front, then ends with some grassy hop bitterness to cut the cloying edge, with flavors of sweet malt, cocca, and caramel that lingers. A very malty, very delicious Baltic porter, this beer is quite similar to a good German dopplebock. This one might be a bit too cloying for some. I love malty beers, and this beer is a beautiful show case of malt. It has a chocolate malted milk ball thing going on that is just so delicious. Impressive beer.

(500ml bottle) Malty, caramel aroma with a fresh scent. Plentiful and very malty aroma, solid and balanced palate but surprisingly short aftertaste. Good baltic porter.

0.5 l bottle. Dark brown color with creamy head. Sweetish and malty aroma with licorice and munchener malt. Sweet flavor with mild and soft roastedness, licorice and coffee. Not roasted or bitter enough to balance the sweetness.

Sean (illinismitty) procured a bottle of this beer for me. He said that I just had to try it because "Aldaris Porteris is a real Baltic Porter unlike that Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter wannna-be crap that Ross sends out to everybody!" Well, he might have only really said half of that statement, but I was happy to get a bottle either way. Thanks Sean! I really appreciate it.

Aldaris Porteris pours a dark brown color. It looks clear on the pour, but opaque in the glass. The head is huge, foamy, tan/dark brown in color and leaves some spotty lacing. It holds up quite well and eventually collapses slowly to leave a rocky crown. The carbonation level appears to be generous and quite lively as it quickly rushes to the top and adds to the already massively-sized head. Rich caramel malt, dark fruit, chocolate, and a hint of yeast fills the aroma. The flavor is moderately sweet and rich. It has deep caramel and chocolate malts, raisin, some char and smoky undertones, and a little alcohol toward the finish. The bitterness is roasty and well balanced with a mild to moderate intensity. This beer has a full body and is thick, smooth, and creamy in the mouth. It doesn’t feel nearly as carbonated as it initially looked to be. In my opinion, this is a really good beer, a pretty impressive Baltic Porter, and under-rated overall. In summary, it’s a delicious beer well worth trying...

1 pt. 0.9 fl. oz. bottle; 6.8% ABV; Batch Nr. 1B110848.

Poured from a bottle with a dark brown to black color with a small tan head. Had a syrupy taste, which was very sweet. Could taste almost a coffee and cream type flavor. This would make a great dessert beer.

The aroma was malty and smooth with milky chocolate and a strong dark caramel presence. Dark fruits of raisins and prunes emerged as the beer warmed, as did a touch of coffee. The beer poured into the glass dark brown and heading toward black and had a tannish head which was fleeting. The flavor was malty with a bit of tartness. The caramel malt and chocolate led the charge and a bit of acidic tartness added some complexity. The flavor was not off, but had the presence of being a bit long in the tooth. The dark fruits in the aroma were present yet restrained in the flavor. The body was medium, actually just a smidge above medium, and the carbonation level was fairly low, yet the beer was smooth on the palate. The finish was dry with lasting impressions of chocolate and fruit and even a smidge of warming occurred after consumption from the alcohol. A nice Baltic Porter. 11.2 ounce bottle.

I sampled the 01.12.06 batch (500ml bottle). This porter fills a pint glass with a near impenetrable dark brown body and a solid, but quickly vanishing, tan head that left little lacing. This beer is very lightly carbonated and there is little noticeable aroma--particularly at colder temperatures. What I could discern was primarily roasted malt and little to no hop aroma. The taste was much better. I noted caramel, brown sugar, dark raisin and a spot of cocoa sweetness. The finish presents a spot of dryness, mostly from the higher alcohol content rather than the hop profile.

1 PT. .9 OZ bottle, batch number 1/12/06 (guess that means brewed on date). Pours extremely dark brown, a very thn looking beer, a bit of clarity at the right angles. Decent medium light tan head, average lacing. Moderate aroma of sweet corn sweetness and light chocolate. Taste is better, doesnt have that cheap corn and full of lightly roasted cocoa. Finish is light cocoa sweet. A light bodied baltic porter, low biterness, and average mouthfeel.